I don’t expect anyone to follow the exploits of my flooded basement, but it is significant because starting today I can put my office back together. The collection comes out of storage and more importantly, the photo studio will be back in functional form.

That means I can start doing the features I have been planning to do. You might have noticed an absence of Hot Wheels and Tomica Limited Vintage. That is because I haven’t been able to photograph them. That finally changes later this week.

Not that I haven’t had awesome stuff to show. Matchbox gave me a few models to preview, and before things went haywire in the basement I photographed them all. Thankfully I have these previews to roll out while the studio was down. I wanted to stretch it out a little, but it has been nice to have this stuff to show.

And I have some good stuff to show today, and it is Jeep-themed. Jeep has always been a staple at Matchbox, and with its 75th Anniversary coming up, that presence will increase even more.

It starts with the special 75 Years of Jeep line that will be found in 2016. All the colors and liveries will be exclusive to the series, so thankfully no repeats from the mainline like the 2015 series.

We will be sure to showcase that when it comes out, but hopefully in that grainy pic you can see two new castings, both of which will be released in 2015.

The Jeep Willys 4×4 will be first, and in fact a few have already been found at random Targets. Another of those no-brainer Matchbox models. A little off-road theme, but by way of a classic, and I mean CLASSIC truck. I didn’t give this new model too much thought until I saw a real one a couple of months ago in Durango, Colorado, and I was sold.

So much character, and for this sucker for classic pickups, this becomes an instant fave. I don’t have the new Willys in hand, but I do have these pics I took at the Gathering in July:

It doesn’t take much to get excited about the Willys. All the elements are there for this to be an instant hit.

And that is not the only Jeep coming this year. Right on the heels of the Willys will be the Cherokee Trailhawk. There are two ways to look at the Trailhawk. One is related to the actual car itself, and the other to the model.

I am not a Jeep aficionado, so I don’t know for sure, but it seems the look of the Cherokee Trailhawk has gotten mixed reviews. It isn’t as “Jeep-y” as people expect, looking a little less off-road and more fleet car. But there is no doubt the car is working for Jeep. The Cherokee is EVERYWHERE. As one who drives a lot for a living, I think I see more Cherokees on the highway than anything else. Whether or not it is a true Jeep, it is a very popular car.

Which leads to the model. Like the car or not, there is no doubt that Matchbox nailed the casting. Looking at it with all the detail it has really looks like the real thing. There is a place for models like this in the Matchbox range, and I am glad it is there. The Matchbox basic range doesn’t need to be stuffed with common road models, but a few here and there adds to that variety we are seeing return to Matchbox. And this model is definitely smack dab in the realism column. It’s a winner.

The first release will be red, which I photographed in July, and the second will be blue, which I photographed a couple of years ago. Look for them soon…

This is one i cant wait to get – i am not generally an off roader collector, or an American car collector, but this car has done wonders for Jeep, and not just in the US, there are countries around the world BTW, so i will be looking out for this, in both colours.

It's a nice vehicle however I'm not certain if I need to purchase one for now.BTW any word on the Land Rover being produced for the 2016 line up? (forget its name but it's supposed to be a model of a more up to date Land Rover).

Well it's been a long time since I looked forward more for MBX releases than HW. Lamley is a big part of that because I feel they let our voices be heard. Thanks for that because MBX deserves it.

On another note I have been posting my collection in no particular order on Instagram, if your interested my tag is phillywheels. If your a collector or a customizer there are many of people on there that you will fit in with great pics and fellow hobbiest.

Both look great, will look out for 'em…thanks for the great pics.Is the XJ cherokee the one that was a new model back in 1986, and reappeared recently in a 5pack? That casting is awesome! Should defo be in the Jeep series and the mainline…

What is for you JL is a common apperance on the roads is for others an almost never seen car. The road tax alone per year here wold be 50% of the purchase price of such a car in the states. The purchase price would be triple at least.

Am I the only one hoping that Matchbox will take the new Cherokee Trailhawk and have a future release of it done up in the Mr. Fixer graphics that the 80's Cherokee came in? I think it would a cool little throwback. If you're reading this Matchbox, please consider doing that 🙂

Personally, I would have liked to have seen the stock height (not the old jacked up casting) of the Jeep CJ-3A/B, and a re-tooled version of the old Lesney era Regular Wheel Jeep CJ-5. My reasoning is, if Hot Wheels can bring back castings that have not seen the light of day in 3-4 decades, then why can't Matchbox.

I'm likely going to concentrate on the classic Jeeps in the line, the Jeep Truck and Willys MB (in a WWII accurate scheme, finally!) and the Trailhawk. The rest of the line just doesn't appeal to me that much. The three mainline issues shown look great too. Quite honestly, though, I wish the Jeep Truck wasn't lifted. At least it's a realistic lift height, and not monster truck, so it really doesn't bother me that much.

I wish they would have done a little more research on their Willys truck before they put it in production.

reason i say this while they did a good representation…it is wrong!

Sorry.. I own a 51 Willys Pickup! and the mistakes are glaringly obvious to me!

the model has 5 bar grille and large rear window ….both are right but from two different years!

5 bar grille was 1950-53 1/2 large rear window was 1954 and up

on their model they have both on one truck! they could either put small rear window in or remove two intermediate grille bars then truck would be right.

Could also do both and have two different year trucks a 1950-53 and a 54-55 truck they could make a couple other years as well by adding minor details to the truck removing the lower two intermediate grille bars would then make it

a 56 truck whil adding a hole in the corner of grille would make it a 57 and later truck removing the windshield center bar makes it a 60's truck

i wish i could send them a email and tell them what is wrong so they fix it before making new models.

I am a big fan of the Jeep Cherokee and I like your post on 2015 Matchbox Cherokee Trailhawk and Willys 4×4. I bought my 2015 Jeep Cherokee 2 months ago from an Alberta Jeep Cherokee dealership. I am very satisfied with this SUV power, comfort and luxury.